Thomas Shannon (August 11, 1938 – May 26, 2021) was an American broadcaster from

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. Shannon was born in

, and graduated from Bishop Timon – St. Jude High School in 1956 and

Buffalo State College The State University of New York Buffalo State University (colloquially referred to as Buffalo State University, SUNY Buffalo State, Buffalo State, or simply Buff State) is a public college, public university in Buffalo, New York. It is part of ...

in 1960. He held several radio positions, beginning his career as a newsman at WXRA and ending as an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

jockey at

WHTT WHTT-FM (104.1 MHz) is a commercial radio station in Buffalo, New York, serving Western New York. It is owned by Cumulus Media and broadcasts a classic hits format, simply calling itself "Classic Hits 104.1". The studios and offices are on ...

in the same city. Shannon most notably served as a

top-40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently most popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top ...

disk jockey at WKBW in Buffalo and

CKLW CKLW (800 AM) is a commercial radio station in Windsor, Ontario, serving Southwestern Ontario and Metro Detroit. CKLW is owned by Bell Media and has a news/talk radio format. It features local hosts in morning and afternoon drive times, with ...

Windsor, Ontario Windsor ( ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from the U.S city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Esse ...

during their peaks as internationally popular radio stations. He served two stints at each station. He also worked at

WGR WGR (550 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to serve Buffalo, New York. Owned by Audacy, Inc., its studios and offices are located on Corporate Parkway in Amherst, and the transmitter site—used by WGR and co-owned WWKB—is in Hambu ...

and

WKBW-TV WKBW-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Buffalo, New York, United States, affiliated with ABC. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, the station maintains studios at 7 Broadcast Plaza in downtown Buffalo and a transmitter on Center Stree ...

in Buffalo,

KHOW KHOW (630 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Denver, Colorado, and serving the Denver metropolitan area. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. KHOW is one of three iHeart-owned stations in Denver with a news/talk radio format. ...

, KLZ, and

KWGN-TV KWGN-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Denver, Colorado, United States, serving as the local The CW, CW outlet. It is owned and operated by network majority owner Nexstar Media Group alongside Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox affiliate KDVR ...

in Denver, and

WMJC WMJC (91.9 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a Christian format as an affiliate of the Strong Tower Radio. WMJC is licensed to Richland, Michigan, United States. WMJC is simulcast on a translator in Kalamazoo, 97.3 W247AM. History The stati ...

and

WXYZ-TV WXYZ-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside independent station WMYD (channel 20). The two stations shar ...

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. Shannon, along with Phil Todaro, wrote the hit song " Wild Weekend" as his personal theme song, which later became an instrumental hit by The Rockin' Rebels. Shannon died in hospice care of pancreatic cancer in

Salinas, California Salinas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Salt pan (geology), Salt Flats") is a city in the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Monterey County, California, Monterey County. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is ...

, on May 26, 2021, at the age of 82.

References

1938 births 2021 deaths People from Buffalo, New York American broadcasters Buffalo State College alumni {{US-radio-bio-stub